Numb
by Silent Amethyst
Summary: A fic based off of the song "Numb". Kim is getting tired of being pushed around by Shego and plans on doing something about it.
1. Chapter 1

**Numb: Prologue**

Something wasn't right.

Definitely not.

In fact, it was more than that. It was horribly wrong.

But what?

The street was completely silent; the only cars being the ones parked on the curb. Street lamps were the only source of light. She felt so alone, so vulnerable, so scared in the eerie quiet of the night despite her amazing abilities.

Bushes rustled behind her and she snapped around. All was quiet again. Warily, she continued walking on, at a faster pace than before, towards her home.

A shadow passed out of the corner of her eye and she turned towards it, but it was gone. She reached down into her pocket while cautiously looking around. The device was nearly out of her pocket when a voice spoke out to her, causing her to jump out of her skin… and drop her only source of help on the hard, concrete ground.

"Nuh-uh-uh." Sing-songed the clearly feminine voice. "This time, you are mine."

The young girl quickly looked to the direction the voice had come from, but nothing was there. It took all she had now to keep from trembling with fear.

But that voice… it sounded so familiar. Too familiar in fact. Then it dawned on her. The person that had been stalking her was—

All thoughts were cut off when a rag was wrapped around her nose and mouth. She stumbled backwards as the rag was pulled on from behind, until falling back onto what was obviously a female body. She struggled with all her might, but was increasingly losing her strength as the seconds passed and her mind began to fade into unconsciousness.

"This time, there's no getting away Princess. You ARE mine now." Were the last words the young redhead heard before slipping into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Numb: Chapter 1

**Numb: Chapter 1**

_Tired of being what you want me to be_

_Feeling so faithless; lost under the surface_

_Don't know what you're expecting of me_

_Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes_

_And every step that I take is another mistake to you…_

"Aaaaahhh!" Kim cried out as the electricity flowed down her spine. She dropped to her knees, clutching at the choker that was the source of the physical pain she was in, trying to rip it off. When it finally stopped, her hands let go and she fell over onto her side sobbing, her red hair falling over her face.

"Get up off the floor, Kimmie!" Shego commanded, sauntering over the vulnerable figure lying on the ground. "The shock wasn't even that bad. It was only a level two. If you'd been lying like that for this long out in the field you'd already be trussed up and being—"

Kim swung out her leg at Shego's ankles and jumped up back to her feet, ignoring the numbness she was still feeling. She grabbed a handful of the green woman's jumpsuit and pressed her against the wall. The fire in her eyes could very easily sear holes through the green-hued villains skull that was only millimeters away from her own if they had the capability. She started out in a seething whisper, "Do not tell me what to do. Do _not _tell me that having seven volts of electricity running through _my_ body ten times a day for three and a half years isn't that bad until you've experienced it yourself. And I _will not_ ever be 'trussed up'," she used her free hand to make air quotes, "after being caught in the middle of a crime because I WILL _NEVER_ BE A VILLIAN!" she ended in a scream. Without giving Shego the chance to even reply, she threw her adversary across the room where she hit the wall and slumped to the ground unmoving, but still barely conscious. Kim made her way over to Shego and looked down at her, the bright fire still burning in her eyes. "Just because I'm not a villain doesn't mean I can't hurt you for what you've done to me though." She said only loud enough for Shego to hear before walking out of the room.

Her guards were waiting right outside the "training" room and immediately followed a safe distance behind her as Kim exited the room. For some reason, Shego didn't think that putting a shock color on her neck would keep her from trying to get away from this place (wherever it was) and hired some people to keep an eye on her. Like it would matter. Chances were she could take them out as easily as she could flip a switch. The collar around her neck was more effective than those two airheads were, but whatever. Let Shego do what she wanted. She could care less.

They arrived at the door to her room. Before Kim let the so called "guards" to themselves, one of them asked if she needed anything. Her first thought was _if I need anything I can get it myself thank you very much_, but instead she just said no and closed the door to her room behind her.

Actually, no, it wasn't her room. It was a guest room inside a prison she had been subjected to when Shego decided it was time to turn her into a villain three and a half years ago. Her room was probably some thousand miles away and was located in a house filled with people that loved and cared about her; not someone who hated her and was holding her captive because she wanted her to become evil like she once had. Her room was the place where all her personal belongings…

Rewind and freeze. Not all of her belongings were still in her room. Some were with her. Clothes, her pandaroo, and some pictures were with her, but not because she had brought them to this place. Not long after she had been kidnapped, Shego had taken a day trip back to Middleton to "pick up" some things. Kim could still remember that one conversation they had had after Shego had gotten back with a bagful of her things…

_**(Flashback)**_

Kim stared at the stuffed, black garbage bags sitting on the bed before her through her red, teary eyes. She looked up at Shego curiously. "What is this?" She didn't even know that Shego had been gone since she had been locked up in her room ever since waking up, which had happened about three days ago. She didn't remember exactly since there were no windows, but there was a wall calendar, so she guessed three days.

"Some of your stuff. That's what it is Princess." Shego answered as if it was a known fact.

Kim continued staring at her dubiously. "Why would you…" then realization set in. "You stole my things! You actually snuck into my home and stole my things from my room!"

"Would it _really_ be stealingif I was getting _your_ things for _you_?" Shego raised an eyebrow.

Kim thought for a moment. "No, but you still snuck into my parents house and stole my stuff. What are they supposed to think when they find out what you did? They may not know it was you, but—"

Shego interrupted her. "Instead of being ungrateful for doing what I would consider an act of kindness, what about you open them up and see what's in there."

Kim glared up at the villainess standing at the foot of the bed before pulling the closest bag toward her and opening it up. She peered inside and moved some things around so she could see what all was in there, then looked back up at Shego. "Clothes?"

"Hey, I'm not going to spend money on you if I don't have to you know. I'm not that generous. There's no way I'd be caught buying the stuff you wear anyway. I am considerate enough though to think that you wouldn't want to wear the same thing every day, because honestly, I wouldn't want to."

This time Kim raised her eyebrow questioningly, eyeing the green and black jumpsuit Shego was wearing.

Shego guessed what Kim was thinking. "I don't wear this thing all the time. Only when I'm working. Now open up the other." She said impatiently.

zim did so, only to have soft, black and white plush fall out and land in her lap. She looked down at it for a moment before picking it up. To say she couldn't believe what she was holding was an understatement. She didn't even have to look at Shego to get an explanation for all the questions running through her head.

"If you're wondering how I know about your little toy there, I'll just say that I've done my research and know a lot more about you than you may think. Why I brought it though, well, I think that will be easier to explain once you see what else is stuffed in that bag." Shego said, not even trying to hide the devilish grin on her face, making Kim somewhat reluctant to look. But curiosity took over, and well, we all know what that did to the cat.

It only took mere nanoseconds for a new pang of anguish and grief to come over once her eyes settled upon the picture in the frame being held in her hand, and then the open picture book that had fallen into her lap. Seconds later there were tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared at the pictures that brought back her memories as well as a new founded fear that she would never be able to see the people in them or be able to make more memories with them ever again. It hurt to look at the prom picture being held in her hand and the random family photos sitting in her lap, but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't take her eyes off of them. She barely heard as Shego spoke.

"Here's what's going on, Princess. You're stuck with me now, and the only way you can get out of here is by doing what I want you to do. How long that takes depends all on you. You give in to what I want, you get freedom and you can go back to your precious home and your fam. Although, by that point I don't think they'd want anything to do with you." Shego paused, still grinning. "Those things that you pulled out are only supposed to… _encourage_ you to give in, to do exactly what they're doing to you right now."

Without looking up from the pictures, Kim quietly whispered, "W-what do y-you want from me?"

"Simple, Kimmie. I want you to turn evil. Just. Like. Me."

_**(End flashback)**_

-- --

That had to of been one of, if not the worst, day of her twenty-one years of life.

And she hated it when she would think about it, because all it would do was bring back the fear and anguish that she had been feeling, and to a lesser degree, still was. But it also brought back the determination to not give in to Shego's desires for her, and the anger that she felt toward her adversary for not only doing this to her, but for putting her family through this kind of devastation as well. And that anger fueled her determination, allowing her the ability to remain resolute through the pressure, trials, frustrations, and even when she was feeling at her lowest.

Kim finished up her shower and lied down on the bed after getting dressed. She reached for what had been her only companion in the almost past four years and held it against her chest. Any normal person would probably say that seeing a twenty-one year old clutching her childhood plush toy was weird, but there were no normal people any where near to make that comment. Well, maybe the two people standing outside her door or Shego, but neither hardly ever come into the room. And would Shego be considered a normal person anyway? Kim didn't think that green skin and the ability to produce a plasma like substance would be classified as normal.

To say the least, Kim could care less what other people would think about her clutching a stuffed animal, much more so the comments of Shego or the two guards standing outside.

As she lay on the bed, she looked at the pictures sitting in frames on the nightstand. The smaller of the frames, the five by seven, was made of some kind of metal that was shaped into and intricate flowery design and contained her junior prom picture. Next to it was a similar frame only it held the picture from her senior prom. In the middle behind both of the two smaller pictures, in an eight by ten glossy wooden frame was a family photo that was taken during the winter of her junior year. Despite their all being taken at different times and different situations, they all had something in common: everyone was happy, well, and alive.

"They all probably think I'm dead now." Kim whispered to herself. She couldn't help but let a small tear escape at just the thought of that. Not only did this solitary thought cause hurt and emotional pain, but made her more determined in her resolve to get out of this prison she had been stuck in, and to prove that she was still alive. But how she was going to get out of this mess, Kim had no clue, and that made her frustrated, which in turn, led to more tears.

And so, she cried it out for the next half hour or so (she didn't pay attention to the time), curled up on her side in a fetal position, holding her pandaroo even tighter, as if trying to draw comfort from it.

Finally, once she had calmed down once again, she went into her bathroom and washed off her face. It was then that she realized that she hadn't eaten since that morning before the session with Shego. Preferring not to starve herself, she left the room to go in search for something to eat._ At least I'm given that much freedom. _She thought to herself as she opened the door to go out into the hallway.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked one of the burly 'guards' once the door clicked shut behind her.

"_Does it matter what I'm doing? Because even if it did, it's not like either of you would be able to do anything about it." Kim sneered at the two._

"I'm hungry. I'm just getting something to eat." Kim answered simply before starting to walk away. She had taken a few steps before whirling back around, facing the two nothing-but-muscle's again. "And I'd like to do so _alone_." She added in a tone that brooked no argument, if not just slightly threatening. Once they backed away and she was satisfied they would stay put, she continued on to the kitchen.

She was on her way back from the kitchen with a full stomach when she heard voices coming from down the hall to her right. It was an area she had never acknowledged during her extended stay, much like most of the place. But now she was curious, because she didn't remember Shego inviting anyone over in the past. Quietly, using the skills that she was reluctant to admit she had learned or had been improved from the villain. She stopped once she reached the ajar door and listened.

It was obvious who Shego was talking to, at least it was to her since she had heard the blue, evil, so-called genius hundreds of times before. But something about the voice didn't sound right. It sounded the same, but slightly different. Carefully, she peered inside… and then leaned back against the wall for a few seconds, before looking back in to make sure she was seeing things correctly.

And she was.

In the room, mounted on the far wall, was a large screen projecting the image of Drakken that Shego was speaking to. And then like every other time she had seen the same thing, there was a control panel.

Slowly Kim backed away from the door and went back down the hall towards her room, grinning to herself as an idea of how to get out of the prison began to form.

-- --

**AN:** Questions? Comments? Feel free to ask or give one! Chapter 2 will hopefully be up as quickly as I got this one up, but it _may_ take a little longer since I have testing coming up.

That's all till next time!


	3. Chapter 3

Numb: Chapter 2

_Okay, the last chapter revealed what the situation was. Now it's time to see what Kim has in mind and what things are like on the other side. Oh, and I don't own anything or anyone...blah, blah, blah… you get the picture._

**Numb: Chapter 2**

_I've become so numb _

_I can't feel you there_

_Become so tired _

_So much more aware_

_My becomingness_

_All I want to do_

_Is be more like me _

_And be less like you_

Kim lied on the bed, wondering when she would have her chance to make the move that would get her out of this place. Shego had to leave at some point… didn't she? The doubt made her worry even more that maybe she wouldn't be able to escape.

The loud banging on the door took her out of her thoughts, exchanging her worry for annoyance. "What do you want!"

The door opened and Shego came in, resulting in a low growl from Kim. "What do you want?" she repeated.

Shego narrowed her eyes at the redhead. "You _could_ treat me with a little more respect."

"Yea, I could, but I won't because you don't deserve it anymore after what you did to me. Now tell me what you want or get out. If that's by will or force, it's up to you."

Shego's glare held. Whether it was for the upright defiance or knowing very well that her teen adversary could very well kick her butt out of the room if given enough motivation, she couldn't decide. "I was just going to let you know that I'm going out for a day or two. I still have to—"

"I don't see how this is of any importance to me, and I don't need an explanation for it okay? So just go." Kim said getting up from the bed and walking towards Shego and leading her towards the door. "I don't want to know nor do I care what you do in your free time so just go do it. I don't care."

Once Shego was outside the door she slammed it shut. There were a few moments where she didn't move at all, expecting the door to be blown down and being attacked. When it never came though, Kim started walking back to the bed so she could think over the predicament that had been on her mind before being interrupted.

"I mean seriously, why should I care whether or not she's going to be gone or not? What I need to be caring about is getting out of here and wondering…when… Shego… will be gone." Kim smiled as realization hit her.

While she waited to make sure that Shego would be long gone, Kim started gathering her things together onto the bed. In the bathroom were the trash bags that she had received her belongings in, so she went to get those. After tossing all the clothes into the bag, she more carefully placed the frames inside, doing so in a way that wouldn't tear the plastic or stretch it… or poke in the back. Once she made sure that her shoes were on and tied, she threw the two bags over her shoulders and headed towards the door where she set them back down. There were still the guards to take care of.

Although they had muscles on their side, she had talent, strength, and agility on hers, making the job quick and easy. When sure they wouldn't be getting up for some time to come, she grabbed the two bags and started her search for the exit, which was also relatively easy. The prison was laid out much the same as a house. Just a walk down the stairs, a left down the hallway, and a right turn later, Kim was in the foyer.

"I am so outta hear." She said excitedly, running towards the door, but was stopped only feet within reach of the knob when pain started coming over her. Extreme pain coming from her neck. She fell to her knees, weakly grabbing at her neck as the electricity made her muscles jolt and body overall convulse until she fell over onto the floor unconscious, one arm reaching out towards her near escape.

_**A Few Hours Later…**_

Kim's eyelids fluttered as consciousness was regained. She tried opening her eyes, but even the light coming from the lamp was too bright, and she closed them again. The light wasn't doing anything to help the major headache she was already having anyway… _Wait, why am I having a headache? _She wondered rubbing her forehead.

"If you're wondering why your head hurts so much, it's probably because of the electric shock you took about five hours ago."

Kim painfully turned towards the voice of her adversary and opened her eyes just enough so that she could see. What had happened started coming back to her memory, from the moment Shego had told her she would be going out until she had came mere inches from freedom. "Wait—"her voice cracked, but she went on, "you said five hours ago…" she paused for the sake of her sore throat. "I thought you went somewhere?" A series of small coughs followed.

Shego chuckled, but not in a friendly way. "I tricked you, princess. I lied to you about that and you fell for it."

"What!" Kim yelled out as loud as she could, which was followed by a few more coughs.

"Put simply, here's what happened. I came in and told you that I would be gone for a while. Instead of leaving though, I just went into another room and waited until you figured out that without me around, you may have been able to get out of here. About twenty minutes later, you tried to get away, but you were stopped and left lying on the floor until I came and brought you and your things back to your room. And now, here we are."

Kim couldn't help but stare in wide-eyed shock and disbelief. "But… but how?"

"You mean how you were stopped?" When Kim silently nodded, Shego picked up a mirror and held it up to her. "You see that thing on your neck now? When I first brought you here and you were still out of it, I stuck that little doohickey on you." Kim snatched the mirror from Shego and leaned against the head board, staring at the metallic chocker wrapped around her neck that she had never noticed before now. Shego continued on. "The concept of it is pretty much the same as those collars that some people put on dogs. But what you have on is special because it's the only one of its kind that is made for human use. In this case, it was made just for—"

"I don't care who made it. I can already guess anyway." Kim interrupted, infuriated enough already that she was being treated like an animal. "Just tell me how it worked."

"Well, there's two ways actually. One way, which will be used most often is with this." Shego picked up what looked like a garage door opener with a row of gray buttons numbering one through ten and showed it to Kim. "All I have to do is press a button like this," she pressed number one, which resulted in a few seconds of shuddering from Kim and a glare aimed towards Shego. "And something in the choker reads it or something and does what it just did to you. The other way, which you experienced just a while ago, is through a couple of detectors in the wall near the door that set off the same thing that this thing does," Shego held up the remote for emphasis. Silence followed.

"Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you trick me?"

"Are you serious? You can't figure it out for yourself?" Shego asked with disbelief.

"Just humor me." Kim said, getting more irritated by the second.

"Well, for starters, because I'm evil. I take enjoyment out of your suffering, be it physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, whatever. Oh, and to put your hopes up. Two, just so you could realize that you are not going to see the outside world ever again unless you become what I want you to. That's why." Finished, Shego left, leaving Kim alone in the room.

She really wanted to attack Shego and let all her anger out on her, but her muscles were too sore to handle that kind of stress. Instead she lifted the mirror up from her lap and stared into it, brushing the chocker on her neck. She tried to break it apart at the crease where a little red gem sat surrounded by a gold ring, but it wouldn't budge. After a few more tugs she gave up and just stared at it. As the reality of what was going on settled in, all she could do was cry. Cry at the hopelessness that the chocker was serving her.

-- --

That attempt had happened three years, five months, and approximately two weeks ago. Up until the one she was going to make now, there had been no more attempts after that one.

When Kim discovered the "computer room" as she was now referring to it, she had overheard that Shego was going to be going out again the next morning. It was early morning now, so all Kim had to do was wait for Shego to let her know through the telecom that had been installed into the room she had been occupying. She watched as the digital clock kept ticking away, impatiently waiting for the call to come. Finally, around a quarter to nine, it did.

"Hey princess, I'm gonna be out for the day. Be back in the morning."

_Perfect._

Kim waited a few more minutes before she set out on her mission. The first obstacle was getting past the guards. But of course, that would be easy, easier than the first time in fact since she (and she hated to admit this even to herself) had learned a few tricks from Shego, such as the one she was going to use right now. The airheads wouldn't even know what hit them.

Slowly and silently, she opened the door so that it wouldn't make a sound. She reached for the back of neck of the one on her right, and pinched a nerve, causing him to collapse on the floor. The other one had only just heard his friend fall before he too dropped to the ground. They would be out for at least an hour.

"That was just too easy." She said with a grin while shaking her head, before heading down the stairs.

Unlike on her first and last attempt of escape, this time she went right down the hallway and another right until she came to a door at the very end of it. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her after turning on the light. Kim took a moment to take it all in, relishing in her already given victory. _The villains always forget about one little thing, and it's only a matter of time until the good guys figure it out. _She stepped towards the table, past the controls and the big screen she had seen earlier. She had no idea how to work them and they weren't necessary, especially when there was a slightly open laptop sitting at a desk on the other side of the room, with a webcam sitting next to it disconnected. As soon as Kim flipped it back open, the screen turned on. It had never been turned off, only put on stand by.

"Shego, I'm disappointed in you. I thought you were more careful than that." Kim said to herself as she opened up the Internet and started setting up web cam. She sat down in the cushy, leather office chair and typed in a web address that would take her to her old site. At first she had had her doubts that it would even still be up, but was surprised when only after a few seconds, it did. Not only that, but it was still in active use. A few more clicks later and she was sending the video message that would give her back her life.

-- --

Sometime over the past three and a half years managing the website had gotten to be more like a… job or chore, something that had to be done instead of the fun and privilege it used to be when Kim was still around. But both remaining members of the original Team Possible had agreed that Kim wouldn't have wanted it to be shut down just because she wasn't there. It still just wasn't the same though, and never would be again as far as they knew. If things were going to change, it would have happened a long time ago. That's why for most, except for him, Ron, both their families and Kim's family, had lost hope for the redhead that used to save their world time and time again.

For about six months following the event, searches were constantly made, but to no avail. There had been a highpoint about three days after Kim had gone missing when some things were stolen from her room and there was a nice clean round-ish cut in the window. Tests and examinations were made, until evidence from the residual radiation proved to them that it had been Shego. From there they did a global search for her, but were dead-ended when it seemed as if the villainess had just disappeared.

The same happened when they went after Drakken. They were able to find him, but he refused to say anything. Some had wanted to force the truth out of him, but instead, some others came up with the idea that if he was imprisoned, Shego would come bail him out and then they would be able to follow her and catch her as well. But that didn't work when the duo went through a thunderstorm and had been lost track of. After that, most of the searching died down.

Wade was about to go to bed when one of his computers started beeping, signaling a hit on the site. Sighing he sat back down and opened it…

"Oh my…" he couldn't get himself to type fast enough.

-- --

"… I have no idea where I'm at, but I'm hoping that through this you'll be able to track down where this is—" the computer screen started to become scratchy until it blanked out. Kim started to panic, looking around the area to see if anything had been unplugged or anything that could have caused it. She was looking under the table at the wires when she heard a very familiar yet somewhat different voice calling out her name.

"Kim! Where are you!"

Kim bumped her head on the bottom of the table as she was backing out. She got up onto her knees rubbed the sore spot on her head while maintaining a grimaced smile. "Hey, Wade. Long time no see." She stopped rubbing her head and set herself back in the chair.

"You're okay!" he exclaimed still in total shock.

"Hello to you too." She said with a small chuckle.

Wade shook his head. "Sorry about that, it's just that…umm…"

"You thought you'd never see me again?" Kim offered.

"Well, yea." Out of no where he started typing again. When finished, he turned back to Kim who was giving him a questioning look. "I just wanted to make sure I got a lock on your position while I had the chance."

Kim nodded. "That's what I thought. So, do you mind telling me where I'm at? Shego's kinda left me in the dark for some reason."

"You're on a small deserted island in the Mediterranean, a bit east of Greece…"

Kim nodded. "Sounds like somewhere she'd hideout."

"So it was really Shego?"

Kim nodded again. "Yup."

"Why?"

Kim opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. She sank back into the chair and thought, until a disappointed expression came about her features. "I don't really know _why_… she never told me that. All she's ever told me is that she wanted me to become like her… to turn, well, evil."

"Well, I guess that since I'm talking to you right now, that whatever she's doing hasn't worked." Wade said encouragingly.

"Yea, but it doesn't mean that I didn't learn anything from her."

"Umm… is that a good or bad thing?"

"Definitely good, cause then I'll be able to use some of her techniques," then she mumbled to herself, "which I hate to admit were pretty good," before finishing with, "against her later. My only complaint is her shocking me to get me to get it right…. But like I said, she'll pay for it later."

"Shocked… as in _electrical_ shock… you?" Wade said, taken aback.

"Oh, yea, I forgot. But yea, that's the kind of shock I meant." She lifted up her neck and pointed at the metallic choker. "She did it through this thing." Kim put her head back down. "Said that only she could take it off, but I don't know how… and you don't know how many times I wanted to. Shego used it so much; I think that half the time she did it only for amusement. And then there are the times when it's itchy or sweaty under there. Then it's just annoying." Kim grumbled. Then she perked up. "You think _you_ can get it off?"

"I can't get it off right now, but I could probably disable it. Could you lift up your neck so I can scan it?"

Without a word, Kim obliged.

"So?" She asked expectantly once he finished.

Wade was looking at another monitor, so it was hard to read his expression. But it looked like confusion, and that made her stomach churn. Then he typed in something and looked to her.

"Do you want the good news or bad news first?"

She pursed her lips. "Surprise me."

"Ok, the good news is that I was able to disable it. That's what you just saw me doing. The bad news is that once it was locked together where the gem is, it wasn't meant to be taken off. I'm sorry, but to put it simply… you're stuck with it."

"Well, at least I'll be able to get out the front door this time." She sighed.

"I'm sorry…"

Kim sat up. "No don't be. It's not your fault." She shook her head. She sat back into the comfy office chair. "So, enough about me. How have things been on your end?"

Wade bit his lip, looking anywhere but at Kim, unsure of how to answer or what she wanted to hear. There seemed like thousands of things he could say on the subject and he wasn't sure where to start. Kim seemed to sense it, so decided to help her friend out. "Okay, let's start with this then: how's my family been?"

Now that the task was made somewhat easier for him, Wade relaxed. "There doing okay. Could be better, but still okay. Not too much has changed with them. Your brothers are graduating in a couple of months, but you probably knew that already. Over two years ago they started helping out on missions, partly to substitute for your absence and also so the team name could be kept the same."

"That's it?" Kim asked, somewhat astonished that there wasn't much she had missed.

Wade thought she was asking about something different. "Well, they also told me that they wanted to join because they looked up to you…" he looked pleadingly at Kim. "Please don't tell them that. They told me not to tell anybody!"

Kim stared back at her friend confused. "What are you talking—oh." She smiled and covered her mouth, trying to stifle a giggle. "That's not what I was talking about. I was just surprised that nothing new has really happened." She laughed a little more before calming down to a prideful smile. "Sorry for the misunderstanding, but don't worry, I won't tell them."

A relieving sigh was let out. "Thank you."

"So, were they holding some threat over you or something?"

"Umm… they weren't real specific. Just said that I'd get payback if I told anyone that they looked up to their sister." Wade answered nervously.

Kim let out another little chuckle before continuing on. "So, besides having to be careful about what you say, how have you been doing? I see that you've grown some."

"Yea, my mom's been getting onto me about getting out a little more and being active. Other than that, I'm about as good as everyone else has been doing" He paused and tried to think up of something more interesting than that, but came up short. "Sorry, but honestly, not much has changed around here. I'm still just managing the site and partaking of my role on the team. I have to say though that it's not as fun as it used to be…"

"Let me guess: because I haven't been there?"

Her answer came through a simple nod.

"So," Kim began, knowing her next question would be leading to the subject that she almost dreaded to know or hear about. "Are you and the tweebs the only ones on the team or is…"

Wade finished the question for her. He knew that this was going to come up sooner or later. "Ron still on the team? Yea, he is."

_Thought so._ Kim thought to herself. She bit her lower lip, wonder if she wanted to know the answer to the predictable next question. "How's he been doing?"

The teen sighed. During the whole conversation, he had been trying to think up of what he would say to this. He knew it had to be better than 'not much' or 'could be better', like he had given her previously. It was like there was so much to say, but at the same time you didn't know what to say. Wade frantically searched for something, taking note of Kim's increasing worry the longer he took; something that would ease her mind until he could come up with something better.

"Persistent." Wade finally managed to come up with. "No… now that I think about it that's not the right word. Desperate is more like it." He paused and looked at Kim, who looked to be on the verge of pouting. "Desperate to find you."

Kim felt like at any moment she would cry. _Shego, you are soooo going to get it! This is you're fault!_

"But I've been gone for so long…"

"That's what everybody tries to tell him. Refuses to give up though." Then to show her just how…significant this was, he added, "Everybody else stopped trying to find you only six months after you had gone missing. Since then, we've been on our own."

"But… why? Why'd they stop so soon?" Kim couldn't help but a little perturbed that the world _she_ saved numerous times had given up on _her_ so soon after the episode.

"At first, they were trying to get a lead onto Shego, but they weren't able to find her. Then they tried getting through Drakken, but that didn't turn out so well either. After that, they just gave up."

Part of her wanted to be angry. The world had failed on her when she needed their help. But the rational side of her understood. There probably wasn't much else they could have done other than what they did anyway. It still hurt though.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. There was still one more thing she had to know, but again, she was a little hesitant.

"Ok, now I'm just going out on a limb here, but… I'm assuming from what I've heard that—"

Another question that Wade had been expecting, only this time he had an answer. Still, he couldn't help but wonder why she even had to ask.

"Kim, think about what I just told you. Do you really think that Ron would leave you for someone like Yori when it's _you _he's trying to find all the time?"

At the mention of the Japanese woman whom she had grown a sort of respect to a couple of years ago, Kim bristled. Even after all that time, she still held that little bit of distrust towards her… destiny or not.

"Kim!"

"What?" she snapped. She relaxed. "Oh, sorry. Yea, I guess you're right. Stupid question." Kim looked down at the clock on the bottom of the screen. "I should probably get going. Don't want the guards to catch me."

"Guards?"

"I put them to sleep before coming in here. They're probably gonna wake up soon." After a moment she added, "If you ask me, they were pretty pointless to hire with the choker on my neck."

"Were they the 'buff for hire' type?"

"Yea."

"Then I'd have to agree with you."

"Wouldn't you anyway?"

"Yea. So, see you tomorrow then?"

Kim nodded and smiled. "Looking forward to it." She was about to sign off when she thought of something.

"I know I probably don't have to ask you this… but let everyone know I'm okay as soon as you can."

Wade grinned. "Already ahead of you. I'll get to it right away."

With that the screen blanked.

Now on cloud nine, Kim went back up to her room fell back onto the bed. Life was finally good once again. She reached over and snatched up her pandaroo, hugging it to her chest. The smile that had yet to wear off grew and she closed her eyes.

_I'm finally going home._ She thought. _Thank God I'm finally going home!_

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

_Finally got up. Now, don't worry, I'm not going soft with this story. I only had to do that with this chapter. The next chapter (which will be the last by the way) will be much more action-y and less talky. It should also be up __**a lot**__ faster._

_Questions? Comments? Concerns? You know where to go._


	4. Chapter 4

Here's the last chapter

Here's the last chapter. Enjoy!

Oh, and I own nothing.sigh

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Numb: Chapter 3**

A few hours ago Shego had gotten back to the island after stealing something for Drakken. She would have been back the day before, but since the world knew that she had something to do with their lost hero she had to be more careful. That meant she had to go out incognito at night. It also meant no glow power, which made the process more difficult.

But she was back at home now, free to relax and allow her self to get some sun.

"Life can't get any better than this." Shego said to herself as she lay back on the lounging chair.

Of course, if this was true and life couldn't be any better, then it wouldn't take much to make it worse.

Making its way to her ears through the ear buds that were playing the music on her mePod, were the sounds of jet engines. At first she ignored them, thinking they were just passing by, but the sound grew louder. That's when she opened her eyes, threw off her sunglasses, paused the song that was playing, and sat up.

The jets were coming towards _her_ island.

Shego yanked the ear buds out of her ears and ran back up to her house. She had been found and she was infuriated.

_Now_, life _could_ get a lot better.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

_Can't you see that you're smothering me?_

_Holding too tightly; afraid to lose control_

_Cause everything that you thought I would be_

_Has fallen apart right in front of you_

_Every step that I take is another mistake to you_

_And every second I waste is more than I can take_

Kim finished up putting her belongings into the over three year old garbage bags and stuck them under the bed. There they would be safe until the time came to go.

She looked over to the clock. It was now noon. Her rescue would be showing up soon... and Shego would be getting a little surprise that she'd want to come and 'thank' her for. Until that time came though, she sat cross legged on the bed and started a game of solitaire.

A loud crash from the door being thrown off its hinges did not startle Kim since it had been something she had been expecting. It did make some of the cards scatter though; enough that the game could not be salvaged. Game time was over anyway. Now it was time to get to business.

"Ever heard of knocking before?" Kim asked putting the cards back in the box and setting them on the now empty nightstand.

Shego had made her way over to the bedside and snatched up a handful of Kim's shirt, pulling her up so that their green eyes met. "What did you do?" she growled through gritted teeth.

Keeping her self reserved, Kim responded with a smirk, "I didn't do anything. I've been a bad girl like you want me to be and I broke the rules."

"Don't play coy with me, Kimmie. I know you're the reason there are two aircraft coming right this way. Now tell me! What did you do?" Shego commanded, a furious fire burning in her eyes.

"Why should I tell you?" No, wait a minute. Why shouldn't I tell you? It won't matter if you know or not since I'm getting out of here anyway." Kim contemplated out loud.

Shego roared and jerked Kim. "Tell me!"

"Fine. It was through your little office down stairs. You know, the one you use to communicate with others… others such as—"

The green villain had heard enough to get the picture, and it made her angry at herself for being so careless. That in turn, made her angry at Kim who was still smirking at her, letting Shego know that's exactly what the redhead wanted to happen. She wanted Shego enraged, and much to her irritation and dismay, it was working. But fortunately, she still had one thing on her side.

"You remember Kimmie," Shego began with a grin of her own, "That even with people coming for you, you'll never be able to leave. I'm sure you remember the last time you tried that."

"Oh, I remember that quite well." Kim nodded as best she could. "But guess what? It's not gonna work anymore. Now it's just a ring of metal that will be a reminder of these past three years for the rest of my life."

That was the last straw it took to finally break Shego.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The small crew that had been sent inside the house had found the room that held Kim and, somewhat expectedly, Shego just as what would one day in the not so far future would be referred to as the 'Final Fight' got underway.

The one who, out of vote, had been given the position as leader stopped at the doorway and went no further. When the other two caught up and tried to brush past him, he held his arms out blocking their way.

"No. They need to work this out themselves. Right now, this is their problem."

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Shego tossed Kim back onto the bed ready to pounce on top her flames and all, but Kim back flipped off before she even had the chance. Seconds later, the villainess was flying at her, and that was just enough time to prepare herself.

She allowed Shego to push her back, but just enough so that she was able to curl her legs up underneath her and kick her off, sending her flying into the wall where she slumped down momentarily. Kim got back to her feet and looked at the temporarily fallen form.

"Why are you so riled up Shego? You upset that you lost all control of me?" The redhead taunted. Kim knew she had hit the mark when Shego ran up at her and threw blow after blow. Every single one was dodged, and Kim kept going on as if she were having a casual conversation rather than fighting it out with her long time arch foe.

"You see, here's how I figure it works. When you lose control, you panic. No big. That happens to everybody, even me. But with you, instead of showing that you're freaking out, you show it through anger. And when you're angry, you fight like you are right now."

Shego kicked out towards her stomach, missing when Kim backed out of the way. Then she dropped to the ground and side swept, but Kim jump over it. Shego then tackled Kim, sending them both to the ground. The latter continued on with her talk.

"But there's a setback when you fight out of panic. For some reason, all rationality seems to jump right out the window. There's no regularity. You're just throwing random shots—"

"Shut. Up." Shego growled, putting more weight forward to keep her victim pinned.

Kim kept going. "… Hoping that you'll get one in but knowing you won't."

"Shut up." Shego growled a little louder this time. Kim wasn't finished, and the villainess knew it.

"Panic's not the only thing you hide in there though. You see, you may show through anger, but you act more in fear; and that fear gets you into a fight that you cannot finish." Kim finished, pushing Shego off of her and sending her sliding across the floor.

Before Shego had the chance to get up, Kim picked her up by the shirt and pressed her against the wall she had stopped by. Her face was only centimeters from the frightened mercenary's, her eyes now the ones burning with fire. "Now I have two questions I want to ask you before I let you be taken away, and I'd like an answer to them."

The silence told her that she was understood.

"Good. Now, first question. Why is it that you just broke the three rules you spent relentless weeks drilling into my head?"

_I've become so numb_

_I can't feel you there_

_Become so tired_

_So much more aware_

_My becomingness_

_All I want to do_

_Is be more like me_

_And be less like you_

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

_**Three and a half years ago…**_

Her back slammed against the wall and she slumped to the ground out of breath. The blast had not only knocked the air out of her lungs, but it had also left a burning sensation on her bare midriff. Carefully but quickly, Kim got back up on her feet, doing her best to steady her aching body on her wobbly feet.

"Haven't you had enough fun batting me around yet?" Kim managed between heaves.

"Aww, is little Kimmie giving up?" Shego cooed.

"No," she said. She felt almost too drained to be annoyed. "I'm saying I need a break so I can come back and kick your biscuit from here to the next continent later."

"There are no breaks in the real world Princess."

"You think I don't know that already?" Being treated like a little kid was getting the redhead agitated. Of course, Shego sensed this and pressed on further.

"Apparently not since you asked me for a time out." The villainess said with a smirk.

"That's it!" No longer caring how sore and worn out her body was, Kim jumped the snide figure in hopes of toppling her over. All she met though was air and not long after, the hard, cold ground. That didn't deter her though. She got back up and started throw punches and kicks at her relaxed tormentor. It wasn't long until the last of her energy had been wasted on air and she dropped to her knee out of breath. It took all she had to keep from collapsing onto the ground.

Shego stooped down to eyelevel with Kim. The smirk had yet to falter.

"I'll have you know Pumpkin, that there was a lesson in that. If you ever want to make it out in the world, hero or villain, there's three rules you're gonna have to abide by." She paused and lifted up the tired redheads chin so that there eyes met. "One, never fall for taunts. People use them to get you riled up on purpose. Two, never make the first move in a fight. It'll put you on the offense and make it a lot harder to win. And three, _never_ get into something you know you can't finish." Finished, she stood back up and looked down on the helpless teen in front of her. "Now let me help take you out of your misery for a while."

Before Kim could even get a word in, the shock zapped up the last of what was keeping her upright and she dropped to the floor unconscious.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

After a long moment, Shego answered. "I don't know." If anything, she wanted to salvage what little dignity or pride she had left. But the fiery redhead had other things in mind.

"I think both of us know better than that Shego." Kim said threateningly.

Just the tone sent a shiver down the mercenary's spine. She reprimanded herself for letting her once hostage adversary strike fear in her. Yet, no matter how much she despised that, she couldn't help but answer out of that fear. "Because I panicked." she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Green flaming eyes bored into guilty flesh.

"I said because I panicked ok?! I admit it. I freaked out because I lost control! Are you happy now? Just stop staring at me like that!"

Kim allowed for a small smile. "For the first question, yes. For your second, no. You deserve it after what you've done to me. For the three and a half years of torturing me, you _will_ allow me a few minutes to do so to you."

For this, Shego had no response.

"Now, why'd you do it?"

"There's a lot of things I've done Pumpkin. You're gonna have to be more specific than that."

Eyes flamed, but actions remained calm. "I mean, why did you kidnap me? Why was it so important to you?"

The second half of the question left no room for Shego to come back with a smart remark like 'Because I wanted you to be evil like me, duh. We've went over this before.' No, specifics were being looked for here, and Kimmie wasn't going to take no answer for an answer.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Fifteen minutes had passed by unknowingly since the party of three had arrived at the room. Not so surprisingly, during the scuffle they had not been noticed. All they did was stand back and watch the events unfold before them. But now, the younger of the three began growing impatient.

"Shouldn't we break it up now?"

"No. Not unless you're up to paying the cost for it later." The leader answered quietly.

The questioner thought about what the 'cost' would entail and turned slightly pale. "You know what? I think I can wait."

A smile was aimed toward the newly fearful teen. "Don't worry." He turned back to the situation before them. "It won't be much longer."

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The mint-hued villainess would never admit it to anybody, not even herself, but the icy glare coming from Kim was making it hard for her to think. It didn't help that the answer was something that she never really thought about anymore; nor did she think that she would ever have to give it, and that Kim would be satisfied with 'because I wanted you evil like me' or something of the like. Another factor was that there seemed to be so many answers, yet, she either didn't know where to start or she couldn't think of them.

"I'm waiting." Kim said impatiently.

"You think I don't know that? Give me a minute to figure out a good enough excuse."

"Why should I?"

"Because you want to know why I ruined your perfect little life, Princess. That's why." Shego answered with a glare of her own; not as intimidating as Kim's, but still a glare nonetheless.

Kim didn't answer.

"You know," Shego picked up after a moments thought, "Maybe one of the answers lies right within what I just told you. To everyone in the world, you're life seemed perfect. They all wanted to be like you. You were the multi-talented world-trotting I can do anything hero. You're life seemed flawless. Maybe that's why. I was sick of watching the world croon over you like some rare, flawless, gem and I wanted to take it away, bang it up, and give it back to them saying, 'Hey, guess what! Your little hero isn't as perfect as you may think she is! Not so precious anymore is she? Newsflash people! She's just an ordinary person like the rest of us!'"

"That's not it though. For years, villains big or small, smart or stupid, inventors or stealers… whatever… they were all beat by a teenager. Think about it. Who of all those you've defeated wouldn't want to get there hands on you and end your hero days? Imagine, if you were in my shoes, what it would be like to walk up to them and say 'I defeated Kim Possible.'"

For a while Kim didn't say anything, just stared into Shego's green eyes; the only difference now was that they weren't tearing through the mercenary's soul. The redhead seemed to be off somewhere else without being completely gone at the same time.

Finally, words were spoken. "So you're telling me that you took me away from my home, my family, my friends… took me away from everything I love… just because you were jealous and… and for your pride?!" She finished with a scream. She had begun crying halfway through, but her grip on Shego's front had remained steady.

The villain's eyes flared. "I was not—"

"That is really low Shego, even for you." With that, Kim tossed the defeated villainess to the ground and walked away.

While Jim and Tim trussed up Shego, Kim had found her way over to Ron and began to gently sob in his arms.

_And I know I may end up failing too_

_But I know_

_You were just like me with someone disappointed in you_

_I've become so numb_

_I can't feel you there_

_Become so tired_

_So much more aware_

_My becomingness_

_All I want to do_

_Is be more like me_

_And be less like you_

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

From a distance, Kim watched as Shego was forcefully taken into one of the two jets that would be taking her away for a very long time. The task was difficult considering she had been in near hysterics ever since she was tied up, but it wasn't as difficult as it could have been without the dampener gloves on her hands.

Kim turned away from the sight once the villainess was out of view. There was nothing more there that she wanted to see. All that she wanted now was to see the world that she had been kept from for almost four years.

Her feet led her to the edge of the island, on the rocky shore. The sun was beating on her back and the top of her head, the warmth it brought welcoming after its elongated absence. There was a soft breeze coming off the Mediterranean; the salt water aroma wafting along with it. The sound of waves crashing against the rocks and the birds flying through the air was much more pleasant than the taunts in commands that came from her green-hued foe. But all those things paled in comparison to what brought her the most delight.

Off in the distance, she could see land. To her left was Greece and off to her right, Turkey. They were two different countries on two different continents, but they had one thing in common: they were filled with people. The prospect of being able to fit herself back into civilization overjoyed her; more than she could ever imagine before. Isolation from the world would be a thing of the past now. Now, she would be a part of it again, and she couldn't be happier.

_I've become so numb_

_Tired of being what you want me to be_

Now Kim had to face what she was going to do from here. It had been so long since she was free to do (within reason) whatever she pleased. For years her life had been planned out for her by Shego. That wasn't the case anymore. Questions like, _what now, should I start from where I left off, should I resume going on missions, _and many more kept running through her mind. But alas, she came to one conclusion:

_All will be answered in due time. For now, just enjoy life._

Through recently enhanced senses, Kim could hear someone coming up behind her. She didn't bother to turn around to see who it was though. She was too entranced by all the simple things surrounding her that she had once taken for granted. That question was answered anyway when two arms wrapped themselves around her waist. Out of instinct, she fell back into the embrace, knowing that this time it wasn't Shego trying to pin her arms back or squeeze the life out of her.

"You ready to go home, KP?"

_I couldn't be any happier right now._

"Yea." She breathed. "Let's go."

She turned to head back to where their ride was, but after a few steps, turned back for one last look.

When she got down to thinking about it, there were things that Kim could thank Shego for…and not only for new fighting techniques either. There was, of course, her carelessness to thank, lest she'd never be standing outside the doors of her prison right now. But possibly the greatest thing she could thank Shego for was showing her how important the things that she once took for granted were to her. Hadn't she been taken, or rather, they been taken away from her for so long, she would have never known… possibly until it was too late.

She turned back and caught up to Ron and took his hand in hers as they walked over to the jet.

Three years and six months ago, Kimberly Ann Possible had been taken away from the world as one person. Now, she was coming back into it with new skills, knowledge, and experience. Instead of using them for evil as had been her mentor's intention though, they would be used her way…

Kim Possible would be who she wanted to be, and _nobody_ could or would tell her otherwise.

_I've become so numb_

_Tired of being what you want me to be_

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

And so ends the tale that took me way to long to finish.

I will be the first to admit, the ending may be a little (?) dramatic, so if you agree with me feel free to say so. It's not gonna hurt my feelings.

Thank you all for reading by story and to the few who left reviews. I really appreciate it!


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